Page 88 of Locked and Loaded

“This makes sense,” Fontaine, who had been silent to this point, commented. “A great deal of Society members are going to be in attendance. Many of them are, shall we say, the less savory members. I too have been invited.” He offered a small smile. “Perhaps I am less savory as well.” Then he sobered. “Will Georgiou be there?”

“Yes,” Dragan confirmed.

“Konstantinos Georgiou? He’s involved in this?” Drake demanded. “I shouldn’t be surprised. The man is the lowest form of life.”

Dragan added, “He is the man who bought Lennox’s sister Chloe at the last auction.”

“Fuck,” Drake snarled. “What can I do to help?”

“Yes, what can we do to help?” Mitch asked.

Dragan leaned forward. “I need to get into the auction so I can find out if Georgiou still has Chloe.”

“Getting you into the fundraiser will be easy,” Mitch said, “but the auction is a whole other ball game.”

“I have Valardi working on it,” Dragan admitted, “but I’ll take any help I can get. We have another problem. We need to find out who is behind the auction. Whoever it is has a serious grudge against the Society.”

Armand spoke up. “This is true, but it is also true that whoever this is, they are responsible for the human trafficking ring that was part of the Ponzi scheme in New York. They were involved in Austin Davis’s death as well as many others. They need to be stopped. Not just to save the Society but to save those girls.”

“I still can’t see Margot St. Clair being behind it,” Drake admitted. “She just…doesn’t seem…” his voice trailed off.

“Agreed,” Logan said.

Dragan frowned. “We need the guest list. I think that might shed some light on things.”

Logan’s face brightened. “That I can help you with. Margot asked Lacy for some help with a few aspects of the event, which is why we’re going.” He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared. “You should be getting it.”

Everyone’s phone pinged. Dragan opened up the text and scanned the list. “Jesus,” he muttered. It really was a veritable who’s who of the wealthiest entrepreneurs and celebrities on the planet.

“Does this Margot St. Clair know all these people? Would she have the pull to get them all in the same room?” Dragan asked. “There’s everyone from royalty to billionaires to Hollywood elite.”

“It’s a good question,” Logan agreed. “I’m not sure.”

“No,” Armand said rather bluntly. “She could not convince Leopold Dunleavy to attend. He loathes the liberal left and doesn’t believe in charity. He will be there to attend the auction. There is no way he would tolerate St. Clair. I cannot imagine him being in the same room with her.”

“Agreed,” Drake said with a nod. “The same goes for Pierre LaPointe and Dominick Falcone. They also loathe charity, and in fact, Falcone does not believe in global warming. He claims the whole thing is a hoax. He wouldn’t attend something like this ever on his own, but for an auction of young women, he would make an exception.” Drake’s tone of voice made his level of disgust obvious.

Mitch piped up. “Margot St. Clair said in her press release that she had help from a great many sources to bring this list together. My guess is someone specifically sent her the list of auction attendees. We need her to tell us who it was.”

“Do you think she’ll do that?” Dragan asked.

“Non, mon ami, she will not.” Armand shook his head. “Madame St. Clair knows that if she reveals that information, this will be the last gala she will throw.”

“So,” Mitch said, “what the hell are we going to do about this?”

Dragan cocked his head. “I have a few ideas.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The call had gone on longer than he’d realized, but, by the end of it, they had the makings of a decent plan. He sensed the momentum starting to shift. But he was going to need to stay on top of his game, and so was Lennox. Dragan had been watching her for ten minutes from the doorway before he stepped into the tent.

She didn't notice. She hadn't noticed anything for hours. Her focus was absolute, the kind of tunnel vision that came from running on fumes and sheer stubbornness. Her face glowed in the light from the tablet, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes.

He'd brought her lunch five hours ago. The plate was still sitting on the corner of the table, untouched. A sandwich that had long since gone stale and a bottle of water she'd never opened.

"Lennox."

She held up a finger without looking at him. "Give me a minute. I think I found something."